


The Thought of You, Keeps Me Warm

by Velocity_Owl87



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Mental Health Issues, Other, Partnership, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 16:22:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16726809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velocity_Owl87/pseuds/Velocity_Owl87
Summary: Eddie's always had issues thinking he'll get to keep the good things in his life. He knows it's not true, yet he can't help the thoughts that come with those issues.Yet in six months, he's been proven right that he can't stop thinking of it.At least, until Venom reassures him that they're forever and nothing will change that if he can help it.





	The Thought of You, Keeps Me Warm

**Author's Note:**

> I loved the movie, so I'm also joining into the fanfiction writing that it inspired. I wanted to do a bit of an after the movie, but also an introspection piece on how Eddie sees his life and how temporary things are for him. Or so he believes and Venom is there to tell him otherwise, since he knows it's all more or less in Eddie's head.
> 
> I also admit that this is kind of my way to exorcise my own demons after a particularly rough week. 
> 
> Title comes from The Arkells "Come to Light"

It shouldn't have surprised him that it had all come to this: Broke, alone, unemployed, a persona non grata in his profession, standing on a bridge and staring at the Life Foundation building.

Yet Eddie was. Despite all of what he had done, he still was a bit hurt and surprised that he had ended up in this situation with no one else looking for him.

Well, not  _quite_ true.

Dr. Skirth had been looking for him to fix things.

Now that she had seen below the glossy exterior of chrome and space age plastics and cheap and empty platitudes...She had expected him to make it right.

He had refused.

What had it gotten him in the end?

Nothing much except a stack of unpaid bills, savings about to run out and a ring that wasn't worth reselling and that represented all that he had pissed away in a fit of tunnel vision self-righteousness.

He shouldn't have been surprised.

People like him didn't get good things all the time. Despite himself, he had to admit that he had always been quite conscious of the clock winding down on the life that he had built for himself.

He had all he wanted, a woman that loved him and he loved in return, a good and solid career and he still felt that it was all going to be snatched away and soon.

Eddie Brock had lived on borrowed time and everything good in his life always came to an end.

He winced at the overwrought self-pity and put the ring away, pulling out the crumpled, but still legible card Dr. Skirth had pressed upon him as she had implored him with those eyes of hers. Dark brown and nothing like Anne's, yet there was something familiar about their faith in him.

Eddie cast one last look at the Life Foundation and pulled out his phone.

He had nothing left to lose.

And his clock was ticking away whether he took action or not.

So he made the call.

~*~*~*~*~*

**_"Eddie! Eddie!"_ **

He shook himself out of his reverie and focused on Venom as he manifested a head that had made him brain himself the first time that he had set eyes on Venom in the mirror. He was used to the sight of the opalescent eyes and black, sludgy features, and rows of razor sharp teeth.

He had to be, after being beaten up, chased, separated, nearly left for dead, actually  _dying_ , saving the planet from that smug bastard Drake.

The rocket hadn't been the best time either, Venom's sacrifice being the only thing that had prevented him from lying in the ICU covered in third degree burns.

Venom had sacrificed himself and Eddie had been left treading water, wide-eyed and gasping for breath as he tried to adjust to the echoes that reverberated inside of him.

He hadn't felt that empty and that eviscerated since that time six months ago when he had woken up without Anne and the knowledge of the ruin that his life had become coming back to crash into his mind in full colour.

It had only been two days, give or take, some of the most horrific times of his life had been compiled within them, yet the visceral agony of losing Venom was all he could think about as he sluggishly swam to shore, the last few yards actually consisted of him being pulled out by the Coast guard and bundled off into an ambulance back to hospital.

He had expected and had been waiting for the virulent complaints and refusals from Venom. The MRI was still too fresh in his memory in order to want to return to the hospital. But there is nothing. Only silence.

He winced at the feel of a line being placed in his arm and it is then that it truly sunk in.

He was alone again.

He didn't really recall the days of misery that followed and Eddie was sure that he's got a lot more to apologise and thank Anne and Dan for.

He mostly recalled being led places and speaking only when prompted, eating when food was placed in front of him, sleeping when he was taken to the comfortable bed in the spare bedroom of what had been his and Anne's apartment.

Yet the old ache of being a guest in a place that he had been a tenant of didn't register through the haze and agony of being without Venom again.

The clock had run out there too, he realised.

That had been the realisation that had made the haze break open and leave him curled up into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably until-

**_"Eddie...Don't be sad. We're here now. Don't be sad."_ **

He steepled his hands in front of his face and tried to breathe deeply to calm his head and his heart. He could feel Venom moving restlessly on his chest, trying to, and failing to reassure Eddie that he wasn't alone and the bad times were gone. 

**_"Eddie, We're not alone. We're together again. We promise."_ **

Eddie nodded, his eyes closing as he fought to center himself, doing so by picturing Venom curling himself up around his heart and protecting it from anything that would bruise it or break it. 

Venom responded to the image and sunk back into hsi chest again, doing that and making Eddie feel less hollow and empty. It was a small thing, but the sensation of solidity was enough to make him calm down bit by bit. He could touch his chest and feel that Venom was there, curled up around his heart keeping him safe and being with him. 

It was true that they were together, yet the image of the clock ticking away the time that they had together was still stuck in the back of Eddie's mind. 

How long until it ran out? How long until-

**" _It won't run out, Eddie. We won't ever let it run out."_**

Venom's voice insisted as he again materialised in front of Eddie, butting his head under Eddie's chin like an eldritch version of a cat, his eyes narrowing as he did, making Eddie laugh wetly at the image that he was presenting. 

"I know, Vee. I know. You were just hiding, trying to get better. I know."

Eddie replied, stroking his head and neck, making him hum in pleasure.

It was one of his favourite things for Eddie to do and if he wasn't too busy, he could endulge Venom in this. It was a small thing, but it helped them both. It grounded him and it satiated Venom's need for touch as well. 

He understood now why Anne had Mr. Belvedere before they-

**_"Not a cat, Eddie."_ **

The disgruntled voice purred as Venom instead draped himself like a scarf around his shoulders before he extended his neck so that Eddie could still look at him. 

"I know. I know. It's...comforting that's all. You're comforting and you're  _here._ We're here."

He corrected himself, not wanting to think on the loneliness of those weeks when it was simply him as Venom hid in the marrow of his bones, trying to gather his strength up and heal from all that had happened with Drake and Riot. 

Venom hummed, letting Eddie think of those times, yet not sink into them too deeply in case he would bring the melancholy back again. 

**_"We're going to be fine, Eddie. We will be. For a couple of losers, we're doing well."_ **

Eddie snorted at that, vaguely offended, but mostly amused. 

He couldn't deny that, yet he couldn't help but to pointedly look around the new place, and the new laptop. Oh and to look over to the fridge filled with expensive chocolate and other goodies to tide Venom over if they hadn't gone out on a hunt. 

Venom chuffed at that. 

**" _Still doesn't change the fact that we're losers. And we wouldn't change it. Not now, or ever."_**

Venom assured him as he manifested even more, wrapping Eddie into an embrace that made his other half relax into, his apprehensions and worries melt away into Venom's touch. 

He knew he was being irrational. Yet he couldn't help but go down that well worn road. 

It was as if it was a compulsion he couldn't help but to follow until its logical conclusion. He had to follow it all down until he had reached the end. 

Anne had held him after and reassured him, yet it didn't last. 

He had screwed that up though. He couldn't blame her for that. 

Much like he couldn't blame Venom for hiding while he healed. 

Yet he was here, V was. 

Venom held him tighter, pulling him away from the table where he had been trying to do work, and laying him down in bed. 

He wanted to protest. He had a deadline coming up. He had-

**_"Rest now. Work later. We need this break. It will be better later. We promise."_ **

Eddie made a soft sound, but didn't resist as Venom tucked them both into the bed and covered them with the soft, heavy blankets he had chosen specifically for times like these when he was sure he was on his own again.

Now, they were an added comfortable weight that made the thoughts recede even further and have less power. 

**_"Sleep. We're together. You're not alone. You're with me. We're together. Forever."_ **

"Forever."

Eddie mumbled, his eyes slipping shut as Venom nudged him into that much needed sleep his body craved. 

**_"Forever. My Eddie."_ **

The last thing that Eddie felt was Venom filling the spaces in between his fingers and squeezing gently right before he went into that no longer scary darkness.


End file.
